


Glimmers of Light in the Darkness

by Emily_Davison



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode AU: s04e13 Journey's End, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, One Shot, Original Male Character is The Doctor's Child, Parent-Child Relationship, Spoilers for Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, The Doctor Has A Biological Child, The Doctor Has A Son, The Doctor needs a hug, first doctor who fic, trying something new for the fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24699085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_Davison/pseuds/Emily_Davison
Summary: After dropping off Donna at her family's house in Chiswick following the events of the planets in the sky and the Dalek invasion, The Doctor is grieving the loss of his friend, but he is not alone.
Relationships: Tenth Doctor & Original Male Character, The Doctor & Donna Noble, The Doctor & Wilfred Mott
Comments: 6
Kudos: 9





	Glimmers of Light in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone :) so I've been a huge fan of Doctor Who for most of my life and was completely blown away back in 2005 when seven year-old me first saw the man himself in action and my obsession with the characters, story lines and sheer imagination of the show's writers still runs strong today!
> 
> I have always been fascinated with the concept of The Doctor having a child and although it has already been explored in The Doctor's Daughter, I decided to write something for myself and just see where it goes! For the original male character, I have already planned a backstory and other ideas for a proper story, so please let me know if you guys would be interested in seeing more like this one shot. All my Doctor Who fics will strictly follow the fandom law and concepts set up in the reboot of the show as I have never seen an episode of the classic show unfortunately! 
> 
> In order to fully appreciate this one shot, I would strongly recommend having seen series one to the end of series four of Doctor Who to understand what events this chapter is referring to. This one shot takes place at a specific point in the episode called 'Journey's End' which marks the final episode for series four if you don't count the specials :)
> 
> Please let me know what you guys think and if you would like to see more, kudos and comments make my day <3

“Mister Smith and his son were just leaving.”

Donna hardly seemed to acknowledge her mother as she happily wittered on about some phone calls regarding the planets in the sky, an event she would never remember. “Nice to meet you,” she added over her shoulder as she briskly headed towards the kitchen, turning her back on them as if they were nothing more than strangers. They were nothing to her now.

The Doctor could only manage a forced smile, anything more than that being too beyond him to master.

“As I said, I think you should go,” Sylvia’s cold voice brought him back to reality and he suddenly felt a small, warm hand slip into his larger one. Glancing down, he locked eyes with his young son, his clear grey-blue eyes gazing at him with undeniable trust. Just having the boy’s presence near him was enough to calm the elder Time Lord down and he felt a surge of love flow through his body as he gazed at the only being he had left in his long life.

The two could sense the eyes of both Wilfred and Sylvia on their miserable forms and a shared understanding was communicated between them without the need to speak. The elder bent down to drop a tender kiss in his child’s messy brown hair, breathing in the familiar scent of his son’s favourite apple scented shampoo, before gently tugging on his hand. They left the room without a word to either family member and arrived at the kitchen to bid a final farewell to their lost companion.

“Donna,” The Doctor announced their presence, watching sadly as the red head paused in her frantic chatting on the phone to glance in the direction of the two. “We were just going,” he said, gesturing towards the front door.

“Yeah, see ya,” Donna casually dismissed them, resuming her conversation without another word or second thought. Both Time Lords quietly left and met Wilfred at the threshold of the house, who couldn’t seem to muster his usual warm smile and, instead, turned to open the front door for them. They were met with a huge downpour outside, something that didn’t surprise either Time Lord.

“Ah, you’ll get plenty of this for a couple weeks,” The Doctor spoke. “Atmospheric disturbance, still it’ll pass…just like everything does…” There were a couple of moments of silence where the man could feel Wilfred’s worried gaze on him, so he turned to shake his hand goodbye.

“See you then, Wilfred,” he said, pleasantly and watched on fondly as his son quickly hugged the man around the waist, before they both stepped out into the rain. No sooner had they taken their first step, Wilfred spoke up for the first time since they were all in the living room.

“Erm, but Doctor? What about now, who have you both got?” The Doctor glanced down at his son, who was quickly getting drenched by the downpour, his damp mop of hair sticking to his fore-head. He was only wearing a think long sleeved shirt and he was currently wrapping his arms around himself to suppress his shivers. His father reached out to comb his child’s hair out of his eyes and made a quick gesture with his head towards the TARDIS, keen to get the boy back into a warm environment.

The young Time Lord nodded, gratefully and gave a quick wave to Wilfred, before dashing across the road and disappearing into the blue box. The Doctor turned back to address the old man.

“It’s just me and him now,” the elder Time Lord stated with a small shrug of his shoulders.

“What about all those friends of yours?” Wilfred asked, his brow scrunching in concern for the man.

“They’ve all got someone else, but that’s fine. We’re fine,” The Doctor forced his second smile of the night.

“I’ll watch out for you, sir,” Wilfred declared, and that statement worried the Time Lord.

“You can’t ever tell her,” he berated the man.

“No no,” Wilfred immediately responded. “Every night, Doctor, every night I’ll look up at the stars and think of you.”

That statement moved The Doctor more than he could possibly express openly and he blinked the sudden tears from his eyes. “Thank you,” he spoke, his voice thankfully not wavering, and he turned to get himself into his dry TARDIS. He never saw the old man salute him as he set the controls to travel and materialised off the wet street.

The Doctor slowly paced around the centre console, stripping his pinstripe jacket off and throwing it onto the brown chairs. He was just on the brink of wondering where his son had gotten to when the boy appeared behind him, dressed in dark navy pyjamas and his baby soft hair was fluffy from a recent towel dry. His father smirked at how young his son actually looked, and he reached over to push the damp fringe back from the boy’s fore-head.

“Needs cutting,” the elder commented, softly.

“What did you say?” The child asked, quietly. The Doctor busied himself with smoothing down his son’s hair, tucking individual strands behind the small ear.

“Nothing, just said goodbye,” he murmured in a casual tone, trying his hardest to put on a calm and relaxed posture, schooling his features into a state of peace.

“ _Dad_ ,” the youth drawled out, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout. He could always tell when his father was hiding something or was in pain and the man sometimes wished that his son wasn’t so perceptive.

“ _Alexandre_ ,” The Doctor responded in an equally pedantic tone, knowing that the use of his given name would irritate the boy. He’d been known as Alex for such a long time now that the name his mother had given him before she died no longer stuck. Alexandre Antoine Poisson certainly wasn’t a ‘normal’ name for the twenty first century culture which the two of them had grown quite fond of. “No more questions, it’s way past your bedtime, young man.”

Alex huffed and crossed his arms over his slender chest, grumbling softly under his breath, “I don’t have a bedtime.”

“Oi,” he chastised, sarcasm dripping through his tone. “No sass from you, mister.” His father playfully bopped him on the nose and then turned him in the direction of the corridor that led to the bedrooms. “Now go on, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Alex, visibly irritated that his father wouldn’t open up to him, didn’t acknowledge the man and marched off to his bedroom. He clicked off his light as soon as he collapsed on his stomach on the bed, trying to push any anger out of his mind. He didn’t have to wait long for his father to join him and he felt the mattress dip as the man sat down beside him and reached over to turn on the lamp. Alex stubbornly stayed on his stomach, even when he felt his father’s long, slender fingers slide into his hair and gently caress his scalp.

The Doctor released a heavy sigh, continuing his tender stroking of his son’s hair and, overcome with emotion, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss in his child’s tufty locks. “I’m sorry, kiddo,” he murmured, warm breath tickling the boy’s ear. “Please don’t give me the silent treatment, I don’t know if I can take anymore today.” He pressed a couple more kisses to the spot just above the youngster’s ear, burying his face in his son’s hair and nuzzling close, attempting to stem the tears currently springing to his eyes.

Alex rolled onto his back and looked up into his father’s warm dark eyes. He could see a single tear trailing down the man’s cheek and the boy reached up to gently wipe it away. “Anymore what?” He asked, knowing the answer, but wanting the man to say it himself.

The Doctor took the hand on his cheek and turned his head to kiss the boy’s wrist, his other hand braced on the duvet next to his son’s head. “Anymore pain,” he admitted, his voice remaining surprisingly steady. “I can’t take anymore, Al. You’re right, I don’t talk about my feelings and the reason is – because it hurts too much.”

Alex swallowed the lump forming in his throat and blinked back his tears. “I miss her too,” he murmured, sniffling and rubbing at his wet eyes with his free hand. His father smiled empathetically, his bottom lip trembling slightly as he attempted to hold back his own years and he bent down to kiss his son’s soft cheek.

“I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you, kiddo,” the elder spoke, combing a hand through the brown tufts so similar to his own.

Alex smirked at this, the heavy feeling in his chest finally lifting. “Me neither,” he giggled. His father chuckled at this and arranged the covers back over the boy’s shoulders and he made to stand to let Alex rest, but he was stopped by his son’s hand reaching up to grasp his shirt sleeve.

“Please stay,” the child whispered, eyes wide at the thought of being left alone after all that had happened to them He knew it was silly, but he was scared that if he let his father out of his sight, the man might somehow disappear too. Fortunately, his father seemed to completely understand just by reading his expression; his gaze softened, and he quickly gave in to his son’s request. He slipped his Converse off and slid underneath the duvet beside his son, smiling fondly when the child immediately cuddled into his side. It was a tight squeeze, but neither of them cared as they held each other tightly. The Doctor smoothed his son’s hair back and gently kissed his fore-head, humming when the boy leaned into the touch.

“Donna was wrong, you don’t get a papercut from hugging you,” Alex murmured, sleepily, nuzzling closer.

The Doctor chuckled, softly, resting his chin on the soft locks. “Go to sleep, kiddo,” he gently instructed. The boy nodded, and his hand immediately latched onto his father’s button-down shirt, feeling the man’s chest shake with another chuckle, the sound vibrating against his ear. “I’m not going anywhere, relax,” he whispered. Alex did, the last sensation he experienced before drifting off to sleep being another soft kiss, this one on his temple and easing any remaining tension away.


End file.
